Leith Agency

A venerable Edinburgh institution, the Leith Agency sprang to life on the docks of the capital in 1984. Leaders of the pack, they became best known for creating much-loved advertising for brands such as Carling, Honda, Irn-Bru and Tennent’s. Recent achievements include promoting Scotland at the Shanghai Expo, award-winning direct marketing for SEAT and creating new venture, Leith Records, to help promote local Scottish music. See their finest moments below.

Gerry Farrell Interview

Step out the house and walk down any street in Scotland. If you get as far as the nearest bus stop without seeing somebody carrying or drinking IRN-BRU, I’ll eat my own pants. At Leith we can hardly believe our luck that we actually get to make ads for the most famous brand in Scotland.

Although we never deliberately set out to offend anybody, we have had a few complaints over the years. One poster got in The Guinness Book Of Records for the Most Complaints For A Poster (I’m not saying which one it was in case it all kicks off again). Crucially though, only one complaint was ever upheld: the second time we ran the telly campaign with the lady who sings “ … even though I used to be a man, even though I used to be a man!’. It was felt to be offensive to transvestites and, with the benefit of hindsight, it was the right decision to take it off air.